Surviving America’s Tribal Council: One Big Winner, One Big Loser

Host Jeff Probst welcomes us to “America’s Tribal Council” and tells us that we set a record (though it’s not clear what we set a record for, since this is the first time the viewers have ever voted) – 38 million votes cast. And somebody will get a million bucks.

The venue is quite a bit smaller than it was for the finale and reunion – just about 100 people there this time. I’m guessing it’s friends and family and CBS folks. As Probst once again mentions that one of them will be getting a million dollars, we see Sue in the back row of the All-Stars pointing down at Rupert. Is it that much of a foregone conclusion? We have almost an hour before we find out.

Probst will first cut down the 18 All-Stars to four finalists. Then he will make George Huff decide which group has the top and which has the bottom. No. Wait. Sorry. I got confused there for a moment. Let’s start over. After they are cut down to four, he will announce the winner. But hey, that’s almost an hour away, so there is a lot more before then!

Probst begins with what is really an extension of the reunion from Sunday night. He says that three magazines changed their cover stories to be about Rob and Amber – Us, Entertainment Weekly, and People. The happy couple is all smiles and say they basically haven’t stopped running around since they were off the air. They have barely slept since Sunday, but Amber says it’s nice to be able to spend time with each other. I’ll tell you one thing – at the post-finale party, the crush of people was so bad surrounding them that they had to be hustled to a private area and then, I think, out of the nightclub altogether. I was nearby but couldn’t even move for all the pushing going on. It was crazy!

Probst says they are acting like it’s normal, but they’ve been on Leno, Letterman (oooh, bad move, putting the CBS guy second), Stern, Regis, etc. Rob says it’s definitely not normal. He flew from New York to Las Vegas – first class no less – and then turned around to fly back again!

Knowing reality TV the way Probst does, he asks if there have been any offers to perhaps televise the wedding? They say possibly. They have gotten a bunch of calls offering outrageous deals. Indeed, there is a network that wants to have it on TV, but Rob says he’ll have to check with his mom first. Then he adds that if the price is right… and laughs. Probst notes that as strange as it sounds, he is an ordained minister (all this time and I did not know that!), so he could do it right now and get it over with. The audience applauds, but Rob says his Mom would not be terribly happy about that!

Moving on, Probst says he is glad to see Jerri there. (Why?) The audience applauds and verifies my suspicion that it’s stacked with friends and family. She is able to laugh about it a bit and says she has already scoped out the nearest exit in case. Probst says it was a rough moment, and she probably didn’t expect that response. She agrees that it was indeed shocking. She had felt like she opened herself up in a different way this season and people were responsive to that. It all seemed positive but then to get booed was horrifying. She was overwhelmed with emotion and had to leave. Wah wah wah. So how does she feel now? Did she get to make her point? She says she made it the best way she knew how, by not saying anything and leaving. Frankly, I wish she’d make her points that way more often. She says a lot has happened since then and a lot of healing is taking place. That was, she says, the basis of her point – that they all need time and space for healing. Let me just say this: BS. That wasn’t her point at all. Or if it was, it was said so poorly that there was no way anybody could know that was her point. Her point, as she said it, was that they all ruined their friendships for our entertainment. Whine, whine, whine. That’s why she got booed!

Probst says he wants to ask her something very direct, and she doesn’t know he’s going to ask her this, but a couple hours ago he got a call from TV Guide saying that she was upset with him. He asks her why. She says the audience was not kept under control enough to make them feel “safe.” Oh give me a freaking break. This isn’t therapy, for crying out loud! Everybody should have sat in their seats in hushed tones while Queen Jerri talked to the masses? Screw it.

Probst is apparently thinking something along the lines that I am and asks if she literally felt unsafe or if she didn’t like the response and wanted him to tell the audience to be nice? She says the final episode has always been when they get to express what they’ve been holding back. She felt that with the audience’s negative response and booing just about everybody except a “chosen few,” the others never got to express what they were feeling without being judged once again. OK, let me just set something straight here right now. Jerri is full of crap. The audience booed Jerri. There were scattered other boos but no way did they boo everybody except a “chosen few.” But as a movie character once said, Jerri can’t handle the truth. Maybe she should hang out with Omarosa. Also, once again, this isn’t therapy. If she wants to express feelings, do it somewhere other than a place with over 4000 people and millions watching on TV.